


A Lesson in Magic

by Kurakynr



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Glenn Fraldarius Lives, Glenn Fraldarius is Robin, Magic System Explained, Mentor!Miriel, Robin is Glenn Fraldarius, Robin!Glenn, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:26:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23430901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kurakynr/pseuds/Kurakynr
Summary: After an certain incident teaches him the dangers of recklessly attempting to wield forces he does not fully understand, Robin seeks out the Shepherds’ resident magical expert.
Relationships: Miriel & My Unit | Reflet | Robin
Comments: 10
Kudos: 23





	A Lesson in Magic

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Tactician of the Azure Moon](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22143604) by [UnknownHorizom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnknownHorizom/pseuds/UnknownHorizom). 



> Canonically Glenn’s body was never found, just his sword and armor. And white hair does seem to be a pretty common side effect of crest experimentation. And getting turned into the Vessel of the Fell Dragon Grima is close enough, right?
> 
> And Robin’s a canon amnesiac.
> 
> AKA: Robin is Glenn Fraldarius, or at least he used to be.
> 
> _1176, Lone Moon_

Miriel is on her way to the dinning hall when Robin finds her and asks her if she would be willing to do him a favor by helping him out with something.

“Depends on what the favor is,” Miriel answers, adjusting the tomes she is carrying.

“If you're not too busy, I was wondering if you’d be willing to go over the basics of magic with me this afternoon,” Robin says with a laugh and sheepishly scratches the back of his neck in a manner overly reminiscent of Stahl. Miriel suspects he’s trying to mimic the green knight’s body language and demeanor in an effort to make her more agreeable to helping him. “I’ve already read most of the library’s introductory magic texts, but I think I would benefit from going over it with an expert...and recent events have shown me I don’t understand what I’m doing nearly as much as I thought I did. Please?” 

As the tactician reaches the end of his request, his voice cracks and the Stahl facade is dropped. Robin’s eyes are wide and pleading. He’s lost and desperate for guidance. It seems the tactician is more shaken up by what happened yesterday than he had let on. 

“I’d be happy to review magical theory with you,” Miriel nods and motions for the white haired tactician to walk with her. “Would you like to discuss it over lunch? I was just heading to the dinning hall. You can join me.”

“Thank you, I appreciate the help,” Robin beams at the older mage, but Miriel didn’t miss the momentary sag of relief of the tactician’s shoulders. 

Of course Miriel will help him. For all his brilliance and small yet growing list of achievements, Robin is still very much a child in many respects. He’s barely twenty (they think), and has less than two months worth of experiences to call upon. More importantly however, Robin is a Shepherd and Shepherds look out for one another. 

“Need any help carrying those books? They look heavy.”

* * *

The dining hall is fairly empty when Miriel and Robin arrive—which makes sense. It’s late in the afternoon, most of the castle’s occupants have already eaten. Soon, they are both sitting with a plate of food in front of each of them and a stack of tomes on the bench beside Miriel. 

“Would you like to go over different types of magic first? It would be a good starting point to review and test your knowledge.”

“Sure, there are technically four different types of magic that can be used by humans: black, white, dark, and divine,” Robin lists, holding up a finger for each as he counts them off. “Black magic is exclusively offensive and combative in nature, though in the hands of skilled mages black magic can be adapted to non-offensive or directly combative uses. How exactly each spell functions varies a bit, but all black magic generates some kind of external phenomenon. Black magic is almost exclusively elemental in nature that can be subdivided into three elemental branches: thunder, wind, and fire.”

“Correct; however, there are actually four elemental branches of black magic: fire, wind, thunder, and ice.”

“Ice?” Robin repeats, a look of confusion and curiosity on his face as he looks at her to elaborate. 

“Yes, I’ll explain in a moment, but let’s review the other three first. _Fire,_ ” Miriel says as she channels her preferred type of magic. The energy is already warm and red when it flows into her hand. Magic twists itself into a small array in accordance to her will. The magic circle shimmers in her palm for a moment before being replaced with a small ball of flame. The fire won’t burn her, not unless she lets the spell loose to become more fire than magic. “Fire magic boosts middling power and accuracy and is known for its powerful area of effect attacks and hazard creation. It’s the easiest kind of black magic to use and the hardest to master. The size and temperature of fire magic scales with the rank of the spell and mages only have control over the flames for a few seconds after releasing it, so accidents and out of control blazes are common. I know you have mastered _Fire_ , but I would not recommend attempting higher tier fire magic without supervisor.”

“Wasn’t planning on it.” 

“You’re more responsible than Ricken then, the first time he got his hands on an _Arcfire_ tome he set his family’s stables on fire.” Miriel smirks, shaking her head at the memory. “He was still learning to cast with E rank tomes at the time. I don’t believe Ricken ever touched another _Arcfire_ after the tongue lashing his mother gave him for that.”

“I can imagine.” 

“If you’re interested in learning I’d be happy to teach you. Fire is my specialty.”

“I appreciate the offer, but no thank you,” Robin frowns, suppressing a grimace. “I’m afraid I’ll have to pass for now. Chrom’s got me pretty busy with the Shepherds. Plus, I don’t think fire magic is really my thing. I’m good with just knowing _Fire_ to keep warm and light camp fires.”

“Very well, my offer will remain open should your schedule open up and you decide to reconsider,” Miriel says, accepting the tactician reply. It’s not like Robin to turn down opportunities to acquire new skills. The tactician’s denial is odd, but her door will remain open if he changes his mind.  
“So...wind now?” The change of subject is not subtle. 

Miriel extinguishes the flame in her hand and returns to the lecture. “Wind magic is generally considered to be the most versatile branch of black magic. Because the offensive power of wind comes from its force and not an intrinsically destructive nature, creative use allows a mage to utilize it for more than just offense. It’s commonly used to deflect attacks and boost mobility. Wind magic is also the most accurate and devastatingly effective against flying units.”

“ _Thunder_ magic is the best kind,” Robin smirks, a yellow array blooming in and out of existence. Arcs of electricity dance up and down the tactician’s arm, it’s a reckless display. Thunder magic is the least suited for being used as a party trick. “It has the highest offensive power, but the lowest accuracy of all the branches of black magic. Thunder magic is known for its devastating attacks and multiple attack angles. Thunder is the only type of black magic that can attack from a point not originating from the caster. It takes skill and only a few of the high tier thunder spells have the option, but a mage can summon lightning from the sky to smite their target.”

“It’s also known for being the most challenging type to use due to the risk of recoil. As a thunder spell is being cast, electrical energy builds up and if not discharged properly can damage the user,” Miriel says, raising an eyebrow and pointing at the tactician’s little electrical light show. “Very much like you’re currently doing.”

Robin frowns and the electricity ebbs away. She can tell he’s doing it more for her own peace of mind than any true concern for his own wellbeing. He might have been taught an unfortunate lesson about meddling with white magic—a class of magic he had no experience in yet was arrogant enough to try his first attempt on a human—but he is still reckless. The tactician is a mature, responsible, and level headed young man; Robin is also young and gifted and arrogant in a way only a child who has never (remembered) experienced something going truly wrong can be. 

(Miriel hopes he never will, yet she knows better. Eventually, Robin will taste disastrous failure. Whether tactical or magical, Miriel doesn’t know. All she can do is provide her junior mage with guidance and a supportive hand.

The tactician is a brilliant mage. The combination of his genius intellect and _unnatural_ magical affinity is honestly mildly terrifying. The boy can call and shape the forces of magic to his whim and will without having to understand every aspect of the forces he evokes—which should not be possible without the use of a tome. 

While Miriel is mildly jealous of Robin’s ability to bypass that particular law of magic, she has grown fond of the Shepherds (second) newest member. It’s nice having another mage join and it’s been some time since Miriel has gotten the chance to watch a fledgling mage grow into themselves.

“Now, ice magic is a relatively young and new type of black magic discovered three hundred and fifty years ago in Fodlan by a mage from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of ice magic, it’s a secret Fodlan guards jealousy so the odds of encountering it in Archanea are slim to nil,” Miriel explains and smiling. She knows what Robin is going to ask before he says it. She can almost see the gears turning in the tactician’s head and he’s radiating a familiar mix of awe, wonder, and giddiness. “ _Ice_ was the crowning achievement of Catherina Dominic—the culmination of over fifty years of ceaseless dedication and research. House Dominic and the Kingdom unleashed the newly discovered spell in a war with the Alliance, another of the three Fodlan nations, to great effect. The Kingdom won that war.”

“We can make new magic?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I rewrote the entire chapter. Dark, White, and Divine magic will all get a chapter at a later date. The fic will be me exploring and explaining the magic system and how the FEA and FE3H system fused together.
> 
> The incident with Lon’qu will be covered in the White Magic chapter, but I don’t think I’ll write a fic for it. 
> 
> I really never liked Miriel much in game; I never use her. Yet she’s becoming a bit of a mentor character for Robin. Her view of Robin is bias, but not entirely inaccurate. He’s 19 (almost twenty) and missing a lot of life experience and lessons.


End file.
